Dover Scores Add Choral and Orchestral Masterworks to Music Library

A Dover Edition Score

The Music Library recently acquired 201 printed study scores published by Dover Publications, Inc. The collection includes choral and orchestral pieces long considered masterworks of Western music, presented in full score from authoritative editions. The collection will assist music faculty in evaluating and selecting repertoire for performance and music appreciation coursework, and will provide direct access to a cornerstone of the musical canon for students studying musicology, composition and performance.

For many years, Dover Publications has supplied libraries and general consumers with high-quality, cost-efficient editions of musical works in the public domain. Often referred to as “thrift” editions due to their relatively low prices, these scores are reprints of time-honored European editions, including those from eminent music publishers Brietkopf & Hartel, Schott and Universal.

Although designed primarily for study and consultation, Dover scores can also be useful in rehearsal and performance settings. At the end of the Spring term, the Music Department will host a semi-staged version of the opera Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell in collaboration with the Theater Department.  Adjunct faculty member Radmila Repczynski, the rehearsal pianist for the performance, recently discovered a full score of Dido and Aeneas among the collection of new Dover volumes. She enjoyed comparing the Dover score with the King’s Edition, which will be used for the Academy’s production, noting the differences in orchestration in particular. “The King’s Edition is all in open score, which means that it contains no keyboard part that corresponds with the orchestral accompaniment,“ Repczynski explained. “The Dover edition contains a piano reduction, with the instrumental parts are essentially arranged for piano. Having this piano part available makes rehearsing with singers much easier for me.”  Repczynski added that because no written manuscript of Purcell’s original score for Dido and Aeneas has ever been located, a number of editions of the work have appeared in print over the years. First published in 1915 by British publisher Novello, the Dover edition of Dido and Aeneas is has remained a popular choice among conductors and performers due to its adaptability.

Whether comparing different editions of a work or discovering it for the first time, faculty and students will find that Dover scores offer an accessible and dependable framework for musical analysis.

Film Update – What’s Old is New Again

Last July we reported that after replacing 120 films missing from the CinemExeter collection, we would embark upon a large-scale project to replace all VHS films in the Library with DVD (where available and appropriate.) We are happy to report that the first stages of this project – replacing VHS films in the ever-popular CinemExeter collection – are nearing completion. After evaluating titles to determine recent demand as well as availability in the DVD format, we ordered close to 300 DVD replacements for a variety of great films. Many of these DVDs have already made their way onto the shelves, with many more to appear in the coming months as they are processed. Most will be reshelved in the CinemExeter collection, but some will find new homes in Classic Films (now housed behind the circulation desk) or the Lawrence Room /1M collection. We are hoping that patrons will rediscover old favorites as well as make new ones!

We anticipate that the VHS replacement project will continue throughout the school year and into next summer, as we work our way through the video collection on 1M (above the circulation desk) and in Lawrence Room/1M (above the old card catalog.)

A Quick Note for Film Fans

Academy Library users will be happy to see an influx of “new” DVDs over the next several weeks.  This past spring, we identified a large number of films which had gone missing from the CinemExeter film collection.  After careful evaluation, we decided to replace 120 of these missing films.  Those which had previously been in VHS format were replaced with DVDs.  These DVDs have arrived in the Library and will be making their way to the shelves as soon as they are processed.

In addition, we have begun a large-scale project to replace most of the Library’s 3200+ VHS-formatted films with DVD, if available.  So far, we’ve replaced a number of VHS films in the CinemExeter collection.  Our next move will be to start replacing the classic and educational films housed in the Lawrence room and the 1M video collection.